People That See Flipped Car Scramble To Help The Family Within As A Tornado Rages Around Them

In emergency situations, a human’s more animal instincts sometimes take over. People just want to get themselves and their family to safety—even at the expense of others facing the same dangerous situation. Fortunately, it is possible for regular people to be selfless in the face of danger.

When a terrible storm hit one family, they thought they could escape in their car. But when their flight took a turn for the worse, they had no choice but to wait for the inevitable…

A storm was brewing in Texas. Torrential downpours ripped through the state and a tornado touched down near Dallas. Emily and Phillip Ocheltree tore down the rain-soaked highway in an SUV, fleeing to a shelter.

In the backseat, their kids, 18-month-old Addy and 4-month-old Marshal, were strapped into their car seats. So they, like their parents (see Emily on the right), were helpless when the truck hydroplaned on the wet roads.

Phillip, left, lost control of the vehicle, and the family’s black Chevrolet flipped on its roof into floodwaters raging roadside like a river. Now upside down, the water whipped past the doors and windows.

David Schecter / Facebook

Phillip and Emily tried opening the partially submerged doors, but the fearsome flood prevented them from doing so. Worse, water leaked into the truck’s cabin. The family panicked.

“It was pitch black in the car,” 21-year-old Emily said. “And you can’t see anything. You can’t find your kids, you panic.” Completely trapped and blind, she banged on the roof, yelled, and screamed for help.

What Philip and Emily didn’t know, however, was that, outside in the rain, a passerby named Thomas Mitchell, right, saw the upside-down truck. He didn’t know if anyone was inside, but he stopped to check anyway.

Thomas was not the only concerned passerby, though. As tornado sirens wailed in the distance, telling Texans to find safety fast, five other men—now six total—braved the tornado to inspect the flipped vehicle.

When one of the Good Samaritans, Korry Prox, heard screaming coming from inside the truck, he “went into panic mode.” He smashed the car’s windows, revealing to the helpers the terrified family trapped inside.

Phillip and Emily had been scrambling to save their kids, but under the stress and pressure, failed to do so. The helpers tried pulling the parents from the wreck, but Emily had another plan for them.

“Give [Addy and Marshal] life before you try to help me,” Emily told the men. She thought, “I’m fine. I am an adult. I can manage…I will figure out a way to get out of this vehicle, they cannot.” The heroic men complied.

Phillip Ocheltree / Facebook

Phillip and Emily scrambled through the broken window to dry land; feeling utterly helpless, the parents watched and Thomas filmed the scene as the rescuers fought flood waters to save Marshal and Addy.

David Schecter / Facebook

In the car, meanwhile, one rescuer called for a knife to cut the kids free from their car seats. Just moments later a rescuer emerged from the watery wreckage, carrying baby Marshal. But what about Addy?

David Schecter / Facebook

“I got a baby!” one rescuer shouted. “Call 911!” He held Addy, still strapped into her car seat. The 18 month old had turned a blueish grey and stopped breathing. Thomas then pocketed the phone and ran to perform CPR.

As luck would have it, though, one of the men who stopped to help was Jaime Martinez, a former firefighter in Guatemala. Though he worked as a musician at the time of the accident, he never forgot his rescue training.

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“It just kicks in,” he later said. He administered CPR to the struggling little girl, and kept her alive long enough to pass her off to first responders just minutes later. Medics then took Addy and Marshal to the hospital.

Marshal only spent one day at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas; Addy, on the other hand, fought for her life a bit longer. A few days later, Phillip posted an update about little Addy on social media.

“I just want everyone to know she is definitely on the road to recovery,” Phillip Wrote. “I want to thank each and every one of y’all who have prayed and donated every thing to help us.” The father had a special message for the six rescuers…

Phillip Ocheltree / Facebook

“Life comes at you in a blink of an eye,” Phillip wrote. “I can’t thank you all enough who came into the water and saved my children; you’re a blessing. Thank you all so much.”

CPR-hero Jaime also visited the family in the hospital, where he shared a tearful embrace with Emily. “I am really so happy that you are okay,” he told her. “And the babies, too.”

In the video below, captured by Thomas Mitchell, you can hear the desperation as the men fight to save the children. You can see how, in the middle of that Texas storm, strangers from the community all banded together for a great purpose: saving a human life.

Raw Video: Infant and toddler rescued

TX TORNADO: Good Samaritans save infant and 2-year old who nearly drowned. Follow Verify and see more vids at www.verifytv.comCourtesy: Tom Mitchell. More info: http://bit.ly/2oZnFSJNote: This video is NOT related to Hurricane Harvey.

Posted by David Schechter on Sunday, April 30, 2017

At least 15 people were killed in those severe storms. But because of the goodwill of six passing heroes, that number wasn’t 19…

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